Archive for the ‘Ecto 1a’ tag

On the Sony Pictures back lot, prior to the start of restoration. Image by Tony Castillo, courtesy of GBFans.com.

With seemingly every 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance in private hands turned into a Ghostbusters Ecto 1 clone (along with more white station wagons and ambulances of various makes and models than anybody can count), it’s hard to believe that one of the three cars used in the filming of the Ghostbusters movies faces a date with the crusher. A group of Ghostbusters fans, however, have launched an effort to intervene and save the car known as Ecto 1a.

While Sony Pictures, which owns both Ecto 1 from the first Ghostbusters and Ecto 1a from the sequel, already restored the former to movie condition and had plans to restore the latter, it abandoned those plans when funding for the project was pulled in 2007. Since then, Ecto 1a has sat on a Sony back lot, and word is that the Cadillac may soon be sold for its scrap value.

That’s where web site GBFans comes in; it has started a petition requesting that Sony Picture sell Ecto 1a to the group for scrap value. Assuming the petition is successful, the next step will be to raise money for the ambulance’s restoration via a campaign on Kickstarter. The petition currently has about 3,600 signatures.

Even before the Cadillac’s current state of neglect, time was not kind to the former movie star. On loan to Universal Studios Florida, Ecto 1a was routinely pilfered by fans hungry for souvenirs, and the ultimate indignity came when the Cadillac was reportedly struck by a park vehicle. Along the line, its windshield was broken as well, leaving the car’s interior largely exposed to the elements. A restoration, therefore, is likely to be a long and expensive proposition.

Ecto 1a in its current state. Image by Instagram user cheekybama, courtesy of GBFans.com.

According to the Ghostbusters wiki, Sony used three total Miller-Meteor ambulances for the two films: one used in the pre-Ecto 1 conversion scenes, Ecto 1, and Ecto 1a. The location of the third is apparently unknown.

For more information on the campaign to save the ambulance, visit GBFans.com.